IC card and method of operating the same

Abstract

The present invention aims to provide an IC card, requiring no special additional devices, not causing a liquid leakage of an aqueous electrolyte, requiring no battery, and capable of displaying information easily and cheaply by internally generated electric power and remaining the information even after the voltage is stopped applying. An IC card of the present invention has an electric power generator capable of generating electric power by an external stimulus and a display driven by the generated electric power so as to display information. The IC card of the present invention preferably have aspects of that the electric power generator is a piezoelectric transducer, a nonvolatile memory for storing information displayed on the display is provide, the nonvolatile memory is a ferroelectric memory, the display is formed by an electrochromic display device, and the electrochromic display device is an all solid-state electrochromic display device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is based upon and claims the benefits of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-063951, filed in Mar. 8, 2002, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates to an IC card which can be suitably used in various fields of a finance / settlement field, a public utility field, a communication / broadcasting field, a transportation / traffic field, a distribution / retail service field, and an ID field, of which handling is easy, and of which information can be visually recognized. The present invention also relates to a method of operating an IC card.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]Recently, research and development of an IC card is actively being made. The IC card is generally formed by mounting an IC chip or the like, which is capable of storing information, on a plastic card having a s...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides an IC card and a method of operating it that can be used in various fields such as finance / settlement, public field, communication / broadcasting, transportation / traffic, distribution / retail service, ID field, and other fields. The IC card has an electric power generator that can generate electric power when it receives a stimulus from outside, and a display driven by the electric power generated by the electric power generator so as to display information. The method of operating the IC card involves applying an external stimulus to the electric power generator, driving the display using the electric power generated by the electric power generator, and displaying the information on the display. The IC card can also have a nonvolatile memory to manage information and a piezoelectric transducer to generate electric power. The technical effects of the invention include providing an easy-to-use and versatile IC card with no need for a battery power supply and displaying information in a convenient and cost-effective way."

Problems solved by technology

In this case, however, the method has the following problems:

If disassembly is easy, even internal analysis becomes easy, so that the card is easily forged.(4) As the manufacturing process is complicated, the cost increases.

There is hence a problem of maintaining the information on the display after the voltage is stopped applying.

In this case, however, an aqueous electrolyte is necessary, so that manufacture of the IC card or the like is complicated and there are problems such as leakage of the liquid and breakage at the time of using the IC card and the like, and spread of the electrolyte liquid when the IC card and the like is discarded.

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